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Turkmenistan: President Plays Commando To Ward Off Outside Threats

Aug 2, 2017

Turkmenistan's President Gurbanguly Berdymukhamedov fires a rifle during a troops inspection outside the capital, Ashgabat, on August 1. (Photo: Screen grab from state TV footage/Chronicles of Turkmenistan)

Turkmenistan’s president has added to his increasingly idiosyncratic repertoire of public personae with a turn as a deadly gun-toting, knife-wielding commando.

Gurbanguly Berdymukhamedov performed his routine of one-handed pistol shooting and dagger-throwing during an inspection of troops on August 1 at a border station south of the capital, Ashgabat.

TV footage helpfully captured, and embellished with footage and music from Arnold Schwarnegger’s 1985 classic Commando, by the Chronicles of Turkmenistan website shows a steely-gazed Berdymukhamedov in shades demonstrating the use of an automatic rifle to what appeared like regular troops but were, in fact, the heads of the military, police, security services, prosecutor’s office and customs service, among others.

“Picking up one of the types of weapons presented to him, the head of state demonstrated the precision of his aim, which served as evidence of his high level of military preparedness,” the state news agency gushed.

Turkmenistan: President Plays Commando To Ward Off Outside Threats

Turkmenistan's President Gurbanguly Berdymukhamedov fires a rifle during a troops inspection outside the capital, Ashgabat, on August 1. (Photo: Screen grab from state TV footage/Chronicles of Turkmenistan)